Book excerpt: An apprentice of the mage they had destroyed earlier, now threatens Inherian once again. But when Mexia arrives at Langdon to become school trained, she learns the school will not permit a woman to attend. But she must destroy the mage’s apprentice, and she cannot do so without the training. She must use the magic she has learned to discover a way to defeat the apprentice before it is too late. Mexia has already done much more than most school-trained mages when she and her companions had gone in search of the scepter of salvation. But now one of the apprentices of the evil wizard they had destroyed, has stolen his spell book and plans to take up where he had left off, and she has to try and stop him. Mexia believes the only way for her to defeat the mage is to become school trained like he was with the eventual goal of becoming a high wizard—the first of her kind in Inherian. But the current headmaster denies her entrance because she’s a woman. Though if she can get the former headmaster’s recommendation, she may attend. And that’s the beginning of the trouble. First, there’s the wizard Then, the immovable headmaster. And then, the circle of misfortunes. It all goes downhill from there…